Air India rolls out fare caps post government directive amid IndiGo crisis

Air India issued a formal statement on Monday, confirming to comply with the new government order issued on revised ticket fares for flights.

In the statement, the airlines said, "In compliance with the Ministry of Civil Aviation's (MoCA) directive issued on the evening of 6 December regarding the capping of Economy Class base fares, Air India Group commenced the rollout of the new prescribed fares across its reservation systems immediately. Air India Express completed the implementation across its systems, while Air India continues to progressively apply the fare caps, which will be fully effective in the next few hours."

"As the process involves third-party system dependencies, a phased rollout is required to ensure accuracy and stability without disrupting guest bookings," the statement read.

They informed that guests who have booked in Economy Class flights are entitled to refunds of the extra differential amount.

"Guests who may have booked Air India flights in Economy Class during the transition period, at base fares above the prescribed caps, are entitled to refunds of the differential amounts," the statement concluded.

The revised rules on the fare caps were issued by the Civil Aviation Ministry in response to the hike in prices due to IndiGo's mass cancellations. The order was issued on December 6, and was to protect the passengers from "any form of opportunistic pricing."

"An official directive has been issued to all airlines mandating strict adherence to the fare caps that have now been prescribed. These caps will remain in force until the situation fully stabilises. The objective of this directive is to maintain pricing discipline in the market, prevent any exploitation of passengers in distress, and ensure that citizens who urgently need to travel — including senior citizens, students, and patients — are not subjected to financial hardship during this period," the order read.

The Ministry assured they will be monitoring the fare changes closely and in real-time to make sure no deviations are made. If they have, they established that corrective action will be taken immediately.

As the IndiGo flight crisis entered day seven, the operations are expected to stabilise by December 10.